Lameness

So I am programming and painting today. Two Ps in a pod!!

I just figured out why the hell my Mini hasn't been working... its my version of Arduino!! The problem of not being able to load programs was a problem w/ Arduino 10, it works fine w/ Arduino 06.

It seems to just be a problem w/ Minis, as I was able to upload w/ the regular NG board no problem. Everything seems to be working fine now. I am trying to send my sensor data to Max/MSP. I am using this chuck o' code I found on the Arduino playground, called Arduino2Max, which is pretty tidy.

Hopefully this is the last hurdle getting all my electrical components to work w/ the software. I will be able to get the board inside the projector, as there seems to be some space available! And incidentally because I bought sooo many bulbs last semester I happen to have a replacement bulb handy.

Understudy

So... my projector housing that was supposed to be rapid prototyped will not be making it into my piece for this show due to scheduling issues in ID beyond my control. I am very disappointed because I spent a lot of time designing the projector and getting the parts ordered and such, to not use it at all. In lieu of a custom made projector, I found a "Plan B" to stand in... a , a cheap toy projector from Wal-Mart (only $75)!


Another big change is that I will be switching to using Max/MSP/Jitter since I am having major meltdown issues w/ my install of Windows and running VVVV. So sad, since I really liked using this program and went through all the trouble to learn it. I decided to go ahead and buy Max/MSP/Jitter since it will be a good program to have under my belt in addition to VVVV.

Dealing with hardware issues has been my bane, but I am glad that I resolved the video component of what I'm working on w/ the media. Here are links to the rough edits of them:

Doom
Spring

I need to go pickup my projection material tomorrow, as well as pickup some paint to cover the "cradle" of the projector, and stop by a few stores to build a housing for the off-the-shelf projector I am now using.

Arduino Troubleshooting

Wired up my sensor, Arduino and board... not sure why its not uploading my program. I am using the newest Arduino Mini (v 04) and I updated my version of Arduino (v10) and FTDI USB drivers. I went through the Troubleshooting page and still no success!

The error I get is:

avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x20
avrdude: stk500_disable(): protocol error, expect=0x14, resp=0x20

The pins to sensor data is as follows:

Analog0 = x axis
Analog1 = y axis
Analog2 = z axis
Analog3 = y rate
Analog4 = x rate
Digital2 = v-ref

Installation Model

I tried out a new program called Sketchup from Google that is more designed for environmental/structual 3D renderings. It's very rudimentary, but I think it communicates the general setup ... I thought about the design problem, and went back to my original inspiration. So instead of a chair, I am going to use a cradle-like structure to hold the projecor, which I intend to line w/ fabric.

I also adjusted the design so the cord comes from the middle part of the projector so if I hang it or lie it on a surface, it is either on top or underneath, not hanging out the end (which looked weird on the last design I did). In this way it looks more like an umbilical cord, as functionally these wires provide the same kind of support for the projector as an umbilical cord does for a baby.

Projector Diagrams - Internal Components

Projector Pix

Outside View


Split View (sans inside ribbing)

Moving into 4D

So I spent this week working with Steve on getting my projector body made in the rapid prototyping machine. I built a model in Maya and Steve rebuilt it in Rhino so it looks a hell of a lot better since I made mines w/ polygons and he used NURBS (smooth, baby!). It was fun watching him work in a different 3D program, and I learned a bit about the ID design process.

I'm also beginning to work in vvvv, which fortunately is pretty similar to Max/MSP/Jitter as it is patch-based. It's video capabilities are superior to Max so I hope implementing the video tracks won't be too difficult. To make it easier to program, I decided to limit the video loops to one per movie (a total of 10 films). I intend to edit select clips from one specific film, so each video loop has an non-linear edit of several scenes of the same film. The random access is linear, left to right (rotational direction), and the gesture is left to right, the up and down gesture would be zoom in and zoom out, and the speed (acceleration) affects the speed of playback for a certain clip.

I found a sample of a project someone did w/ gestures using VVVV... pretty darned cool.

Movietime

Movies movies movies has been my progress. I have 10 DVDs and watching one a night, logging the scenes I want to use. I realized that this part of my project is vital and that I needed to get my material sooner than later since it takes such a long time to log and digitize that amount of footage. Not that I am using a lot of footage, but I have to go through a lot of footage to find the clips I need.

On another note, its been great wrapping my head back around of what this project is really about, its is about the future and how we see the future. So, by watching all these films from different eras and styles it is having an interesting effect mentally measuring the feasibility of some of these futures. I'm working on mapping out the continuum of utopia (left) and dystopias (right) from these films, and focusing on purely the look of world as opposed to the reality of the film's view of utopia and dystopia (a perfect world that is actually bad eg Aeon Flux). The audio track will come from An Inconvenient Truth, contrasting present reality with future fantasy, literally clashing. I think that sensory experience will be interesting.

Steve is helping me to prototype my projector this weekend... woohoo!

And I finished my technical specs and systems diagram document. The main concern I came across was that the LED requires quite a bit of power so I don't know if a single 1 amp power supply will be enough since i'm also powering the LCD screen.

Project Update

things i have done:
- ordered my parts and received them (LEDs and sensors).
- rented the DVDs that will be the video sources my "futures" come from (I signed up for Green Cine, Netflix AND Blockbuster Total Access!).
- installed Windows and VVVV on my computer to see if I can use that to do the video mixing. haven't really gotten my hands too dirty w/ it. otherwise, I'll have to buy a copy of Max/MSP/Jitter. :(

things need to do:
- rebuild the projector
- get arduino working w/ the IMU 5 degrees of freedom sensor
- log videos
- edit videos
- program video output and interaction w/ sensor using VVVV (hopefully)
- order tent (waiting until i have a place to put it)
- sew panels and harness

yipes that is a lot to do in 5 weeks!!

Joe McKay Art Review

Joe McKay @ vertextlist

Overall I thought that this show was more than I was expecting, because it had a variety of pieces using the cell phone and in ways that were fun and unexpected. It had the sort of feeling of a child making toys out of ordinary objects (not all of them, but that sort of sensibility with the cell phones NOT being used as cell phones or all post modern and being about dead cell phones).

Graveyard was oddly surprising to me, because I have never looked at a cell phone as a tiny plot of land. It was like a miniature, intimate scene with no bodies or graves but I imagined what would be there. Somehow the ones using the screen were more "cellphony" because that is what we always look at on a cell phone. My favorite pieces was (and the most fun) the cell phone keyboard, because who doesn't like playing with a noisemaker? I just really enjoyed the interaction and trying to figure out the mapping patterns. Finally, the most intriguing piece was Sunset Solitaire. It was compelling in a very subtle way because it was not apparent what it was or did initially, and it has a beautiful aesthetic that is simple yet sublime.

Perhaps I liked the show a bit more than the rest of the class because I too have fantasized about "what can you do w/ a cell phone?" There was a creativity exercise I remember doing in elementary school that involved giving us a simple every day object, like a safety pin. Our task was to make a list of all the things you could do with the object. I always kicked ass at that exercise, because I came up longest and most creative list. I almost feel like Joe looked at his pile of phones and let his muse make something out of what most people would consider garbage. ANYWAY, I too have all my old phones, plugs and accessories from ALL of the phones I have ever owned. It's a bit nostalgic like old pairs of glasses and retainers.

Sidenote: Cell phones are very personal and intimate device, so I definitely like his use of a ubiquitous and contextual technology. I can't wait until I upgrade to an iPhone or a slick looking Chocolate because I seriously hate my phone (never before, so this one might go in the trash). I always wondered if someone ever invented a cell phone that could vibrate as well as a top quality vibrator? Pleasure on the go...?